The Research On Theory And Practice Of CPC' Urban Community Construction

This dissertation examines Chinese urban community construction. Drawing on the theory and practice of the Chinese Communist Party, it attempts to address two main questions:1) Has the Chinese Communist Party established a theoretical system of urban community construction? If yes, what are its main contents and theoretical value? 2) What are the practical effects of the theory of urban community construction under the guidance of the Chinese Communist Party? And what are its primary experience and practical significance? The study triangulates literature review, document research, fieldwork and other research methods to investigate the causes, rationale and effects of the Chinese community construction theory. Adopting the "new situations-new problems-new theories-new practice" approach, the conclusion of this study is two-folded:1) The theory of urban community construction of the Chinese Communist Party has been established as an integrated theory of great success in practical application, which has become an important component of the socialist theory with Chinese characteristics and the latest development of Marxism in the Chinese context.2) Under the guidance of the Chinese Communist Party, the theory of urban community construction has achieved remarkable results, which has accumulated rich experience and laid the foundation for co-ordinate development of urban and rural communities.Communities are the cells of a society. Constructing harmonious communities is the basis for constructing a harmonious society. Without the Communist Party of China there would be no new China and socialism with Chinese characteristics. The key responsibility for handling China's affairs should rest with the Communist Party of China. Thus, community construction and party building are the two main themes of constructing harmonious society in the new period. It has been 60 years since the founding of PRC,30 years since the reform and opening up,20 years since "Organic Law of the Urban Residents Committees of the People's Republic of China" was promulgated,10 years since urban community construction was pushed forward comprehensively, and 5 years since harmonious community was actively promoted. In recent decades, rural community construction is fully under way from pilot zones. Co-ordinate development of urban and rural communities is becoming a new trend. The tremendous achievements in Chinese community construction are of prime importance to a systematic study of new theory and new practice formed in urban community construction by Communist Party of China. Despite that the existing literature on urban community construction has been fruitful, problems still exist. Namely, most previous researches drew on western paradigms to explain the practice of Chinese urban community construction. However, few studies theoretically analyze and summarize new theories and practices of Chinese urban community construction from the perspective of the ruling political party. This study concerns problems in practice. Through a detailed discussion of actual problems, it teases out four main themes of Chinese urban community construction which are also the four main lines embodied in theory and practice of the Chinese Communist Party:resident autonomy, community management, community service, community civility. This dissertation expounds these four main lines running through the party's theory and practice.The road of Chinese urban community construction led by Communist Party of China has its unique logic of occurrence. The original purpose of China's urban community construction is to solve the new problems that have arisen in the new situation of reform and opening up. The theory and practice of the Chinese urban community construction led by Communist Party of China centers around these new situations and new problems. Overall, the new situations of China's great social transformation are mainly manifested in four aspects:social stratification, social mobility, social organization and social division of labor. Correspondently, the new problems that have emerged in China's social construction are also reflected in four aspects:the problem of people'stability, namely, the disintegration of unit system, the absence of grass-roots units of social management and the issue of management vacuum; the problem of people's well-being, namely, the contradiction between the growth of public demand and the shortage of public service or product supply; the problem of democracy, namely, the contradiction between the enhancement of citizens'right of choice, freedom, difference and the imperfection of autonomous channels, autonomous systems, autonomous mechanism; the problem of culture, namely, the construction of spiritual civilization and the establishment of core value system. Faced with these new situations and new problems, the party and the state have gradually developed the road of Chinese urban community construction which aims to integrate communities into society; formed the unique theory of urban community construction and guided the practice of Chinese urban community construction.The road of Chinese urban community construction led by Communist Party of China has formed a scientific theoretical system. After taking the road of urban community construction, the Communist Party of China has been engaged in exploring and perfecting the theory through practice. In this process, the theory of urban community construction has been greatly enriched by the guidelines of CPC's plenary meetings, the expositions of the CPC leading collective, the summaries of the central government reports, the elaborations of national policies and regulations, theoretical contributions from political and academic circles, and so on. Generally speaking, the existing theoretical system of urban community construction led by the Chinese Communist Party is an integrated theoretical system which expatiates on the a community (social life) featuring resident autonomy, orderly management, consummate service, civility and harmony as well as the values, purposes, connotations, denotations, organizational structures, systems, mechanisms, methods, channels, and networks of these features. This theoretical system includes three interrelated components:First, the theory of logical starting point, namely, the starting point of Marxism as well as research methods of dialectical materialism and historical materialism; Second, the theory of axial core, namely, the theory of social community (social life); Third, the theory of external structure, namely four underpinning theories including the theory of community resident autonomy, the theory of orderly community management, the theory of consummate community service, the theory of community civility and harmony. These three parts together constitute the axial system of CPC-led urban community construction theory, among which the theory of logical starting point is its methodology, the theory of axial core is its values, and the theory of external structure is its supporting measures. The scientificity of the CPC-led urban community construction theory is decided by its practical results.The road of Chinese urban community construction led by the Communist Party of China has made tremendous achievements in practice. The road of Chinese urban community construction has gone through four main stages:the stage of traditional and old-style community construction, the stage of transitional community construction, the stage of modern and new community construction, the stage of harmonious community construction and co-ordinate development of urban and rural communities. This dissertation focuses on the practice and development since the stage of transitional community construction. The practical results of urban community construction under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party can be summed up as "five establishments and five patterns". First, a basic community-based organizational system has been established and a pattern of orderly managed grass-roots community has been initially formed; Second, a basic community-based democratic system has been established and a pattern of resident autonomy of broad participation has been initially formed; Third, a basic community service system has been established and a pattern of "small community, great service "has been initially formed; Fourth, a basic safeguard mechanism of community construction has been established and a pattern of "co-construction, co-management" has been initially formed; Fifth, a harmonious atmosphere of civilized community has been basically established and a pattern of civility and harmony has been initially formed. These fruitful results, in turn, prove the scientificity of the theoretical system of CPC-led urban community construction.The road of Chinese urban community construction led by Communist Party of China has both theoretical and practical value. Theoretically, the theory of urban community construction is an important component of the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics from the perspectives of time and content. This theory not only adheres to the most basic and central ideas of Marxism but also develop Marxism in the contemporary Chinese context. Practically, its valuable experience of "a proper analysis, five firmly grasp" not only broaden the space of fully implementing urban community construction, but also provide a reference for actively promoting rural community construction, as well as lay the foundation for the development pattern of urban-rural community integration.